Feature Story
March 2002
Musselwhite, Hammond, and Little Charlie
by Mark Hoffman
CHARLIE MUSSELWHITE - 3/14 @ Midtown Rock Rink & Roll, Bend,
OR; 3/15 (w/John Hammond) @ Rogue Theatre, Grants Pass, OR;
3/16 (w/John Hammond) @ Crystal Ballroom, Portland, OR; 3/17
(w/John Hammond, Little Charlie & the Nightcats) @ EMP/Sky
Church, Seattle, 8pm; 3/18 (w/John Hammond) @ Legends, Victoria,
BC; 3/19 (w/John Hammond) @ The Yale, Vancouver, BC, 9:30pm.
(See CA/UT/NV dates in calendar)
Photo by Tom Hunnewell © 2002
Forget the green this St. Patrick's Day. Go blue with 3 world-class
acts-Charlie Musselwhite, John Hammond Jr., and Little Charlie
and the Nightcats-at the Experience Music Project.
Musselwhite, one of the great harp players of our time and a
fine guitarist, is a 3-time Grammy nominee and 10-time WC Handy
Award winner. Born in Mississippi, he moved to Memphis at an
early age and became immersed in the city's diverse musical
culture. He went to school with Johnny Cash's brother, Tommy,
lived down the road from rockabilly legends Johnny Burnette
and Slim Rhodes, and went to parties hosted by Elvis Presley.
He befriended some legendary traditional bluesmen such as Furry
Lewis, Will Shade, and the surviving members of the Memphis
Jug Band. Soon he migrated north to Chicago and began playing
with his roommate, Big Joe Williams. He also sat in with Howlin'
Wolf, Muddy Waters, and other blues legends. Since then Musselwhite
has consistently redefined the boundaries of the blues, as on
his album Continental Drifter with Eliades Ochoa of Buena Vista
Social Club, as a guest artist on the Grammy-winning album Spirit
of the Century by The Blind Boys of Alabama, and on the latest
albums from his buddies Tom Waits and John Hammond, Jr. He has
also recorded with John Lee Hooker, Bonnie Raitt, and many others.
Photo by Phil Chesnut ©2002
From coffeehouses to concert halls and festivals, John Hammond,
Jr. has spent more than 35 years playing intense solo-acoustic
blues around the world. A Grammy Award winner (his last 3 Virgin/Pointblank
CDs have been nominated as well) who also enjoyed successive
W.C. Handy awards in '94, '95, and '96, Hammond has shared the
stage or recorded with blues masters such as Muddy Waters, Willie
Dixon, John Lee Hooker, and Howlin' Wolf. John has recorded
over 25 albums and his passionate commitment to traditional
blues made him the natural choice to host the film documentary,
The Search for Robert Johnson. Hammond's father, famed producer
and talent scout John Hammond, was instrumental in introducing
Johnson's music to the mainstream music audience. Hammond's
latest CD, Wicked Grin, was produced by and features songs by
Hammond's longtime fan Tom Waits.
Two of Hammond's albums in the last decade have featured the
evening's third act, Little Charlie & the Nightcats. Between
the seriousness of their musicianship and their wry lyrical
vision, the Nightcats' music is simultaneously hilarious and
soulful. World-class blues guitarist Little Charlie Baty and
harmonica player/vocalist/songwriter Rick Estrin first teamed
up 30 years ago, taking jump and swing jazz and mixing it with
hard Chicago blues, rockabilly, bebop, and Estrin's clever original
songs. One critic said they sound like "Charlie Christian
playing in Little Walter's band." Amen! Hear it on their
just released "That's Big!" on Alligator Records.
Three bands that'll make you forget all about bagpipes, bodhrans,
Uillean pipes, and all that other Celtic stuff. You won't even
need green beer to have a good time.
2002